A Tale of Eviction

Jr. has been late on his rent nearly every month since he's lived in our building (1.5 years).  He catches up once in a while, but in January 2012 I told the property manager that I was done!  If he didn't catch up  and pay all of February rent to proceed with eviction.  February 1st came and went with no money so Jana put the three day eviction notice on his door.  But he didn't move out, or pay - so a court date was set and he showed up in court to tell his story, sure that the judge would see it his way. His story?  He spent all his money on other things and he was stunned that the judge ruled against him.  So, now not only does he owe use $842 in back rent, but now he owes $500 in attorney fees. 

Flash forward to last weekend.  Diego was at the apartments and Jr. approached him to tell him that
1.  he wants to pay us
2.  he doesn't want to move
3.  he doesn't want to deal with Jana - only with us.
4.  we should give him a chance to catch up and pay

Good grief!  Jana says kick 'em out.  I said kick 'em out.  My mom, who actually owns the apartments, said kick 'em out.  Diego said give them a chance.  Sigh.  So we set up meeting with Jr., Jana and me for this afternoon. 

After much discussion I agreed to let him stay on the condition that he
1.  Pay as much as possible now
2.  Pay all of March rent on or before March 9
3.  Pay all the rent every month.
4.  If anything happens to call Jana.  Anything!  And he has to still work with Jana - I am not going to be his contact.  

So he paid $840 in CASH today and promises to pay another $550 by March 9.   Good grief - couldn't had have done this two weeks ago?  And we are left holding the bag for the $500 attorney's fees.  Yes, technically we have a judgment against him to pay the attorney fees, but in the interest of moving forward, and getting any money at all, we'll pay the attorney fees and move on.  The reality is that even if we pay the attorney fees, there is still more money in Mom's pocket than if he moved out and paid nothing. 

The biggest consolation is that the eviction judgment against him is good for six months, so that in three months when this all falls apart, we can still move forward without additional court costs for eviction. 

I'm not sure what the lesson to be learned here is, but we are trying very hard to be merciful.  The thing that frustrated me most?  He didn't even say thank you. 

Post Script:
Shortly before our 4:00 meeting Jana received a phone call from another property manager who was doing a reference check on Jr.  He was trying to rent a condo for $750 per month.  Jana's reference put a quick stop to that!  It's just amazing to me, however, that the guy who can't stay current paying $550 per month is trying ot rent a place that costs $750 per month? 

Who are you?

I don't have any good storiest to share this week, so I'm going to borrow one from my wonderful property manager.  She got a call from a tenant who lived in a house with a vacant basement apartment.  The tenant wanted to know who had moved in downstairs.  The answer was "no one.  It's still for rent."  Ha!  That's what she thought.  It turns out that there was someone living in the basement.  Here's my paraphrase of the conversation.

Jana:  Who are you?
Squatter: I'm Lisa 
J: Why are you here?
S:  I needed a place to live.
J:  How did you get in?
S:  The door was open so I moved in.
J:  But you can't live here.
S:  Why?
J:  Because you aren't a tenant.  You haven't paid any rent, you haven't signed a lease, you haven't done anything.
S:  But I am living here.
J:  But you can't  just move in without signing a lease.  I don't even know who you are!
S:  Why, I'm Lisa! 

of course ... It's Lisa!  That makes everything okay.  And the conversation went downhill from there. 

Jana called the police who said they couldn't/wouldn't do anything.  This woman is living in a parallel universe where it's okay to just move into any vacant space.  It wasn't breaking and entering, since she hadn't done any damage.  They suggested that Jana would have to go through the eviction process.  I kid you not!  They have to go through the expensive eviction process to throw out the person who just moved into an apartment because the door was open.

So, Jana posted a 3-day Eviction Notice on her door and, fortunately, Lisa left ... presumably to find another unlocked vacant apartment. 

The new meaning of Tax Season

Tax time has meant various things to me over the years, but in landlord speak it means paid rent.  "Huh?"  Really. Two of our tenants were desperately behind in their rent.  In fact, Jana posted a 3-day eviction notice on one of them.  The very next day she walked in the door with $1,770 in cash.  The other tenant also walked in with a wad of cash to catch up.  Both said it was a tax refund. 

Don't get me wrong.  I am very happy they are caught up and we desperately need the money to pay bills and make repairs.  But I am concerned whether they will be able to remain current.  I'm trying not to borrow worry. 

Here's this weekend's to-do list:
#103
Replace medicine chests in both bathrooms
Replace light fixture in stairway
Paint upstairs bathroom
Replace bath faucet
Replace valve stems in lavatory faucet
Buy new drip pans for stove
Fix evaporation tray in refrigerator
Replace smoke detector
Spray paint the stairway and closets
Paint bathroom vanity
Check window coverings and replace if needed
Replace light fixture in kitchen and dining room

Ugh...that's not all, I'm just tired of listing things. 

Eviction - finally!

After 4+ months of promises, promises but no money, our property manager and I finally decided to file eviction notices on a tenant.  To her credit, she was a really good talker but never never followed through on anything she said she would do or did what we told her needed to be done. 

The property manager posted her three day notice - which, of course, she ignored.  Next step was to file a court date.  On Tuesday, November 9 our property manager and the attorney went to court.  In an unusual move, the tenant actually showed up.  She had the nerve to tell the judge that our accounting was wrong and that she had paid rent but it wasn't credited.  The judge asked if she had documentation.  "No."  He rescheduled and moved the party to Friday, Nov 12.  This time the tenant was a no-show and we won the judgment. 

Fortunately she's gone.  Whew.  I am so relieved.  After months of promises of every shape and size, I'm glad to have a vacant apartment bringing in zero dollars than an occupied apartment bringing in zero dollars.